Our Story
by Ymoccy
Summary: When Tidus comes back after the Gullwings' two year journey, Rikku's feelings toward him are awakened, causing trouble for her and the other inhabitants of Spira. Tikku story Possible spoilers.


_I never knew how I felt before… I'm so confused; I don't know what to do. Could this be real? Do I really love you? I was so sad after you left and now that you are back, all these feelings I thought would leave are back… and what about Yunie? She is my cousin, I don't want to do this to her. I just want to move on, ya know? _

"I don't know what to do!" Rikku yelled into her pillow.

"Don't know what to do about what?" A familiar voice… Rikku looked up into the eyes of the guy she was just thinking about.

"Oh, I just don't know what to do about my room; it's nothing like my old home…" Rikku tried to cover up what she was feeling and act normal.

"Oh, do you need any help?" Tidus asked.

"No, no, I'm just not used to living in Besaid now. Yunie and I have been flying around for so long, ya know?" Rikku smiled and looked away from him.

"Yeah, well I'll see ya later; I'm going to go practice blitzball with Wakka. Bye." Tidus waved and walked out of the house.

It had been about two months since they had found Tidus on Besaid Beach, after two years of him being gone. No one really knows what happened to him, but everyone was glad to have him back. Especially Yuna and Rikku, but Rikku had to stay quiet. Ever since Rikku first saw Tidus, she liked being around him. As Yuna's pilgrimage to Zanarkand continued, Rikku's feelings grew stronger, because she was working with Tidus to try and save Yuna. Now, Rikku was sure that her feelings would make Yuna upset, so she hid how she felt to protect Yuna. It was all she knew how to do. After all, it was Yuna that said Rikku could stay in her home in Besaid, since Rikku didn't have a real home now.

"Can I come in?" Yuna was standing outside Rikku's open door, smiling like she usually did.

"Of course, Yunie," Rikku said, hiding her sadness. Yuna walked in and sat down next to Rikku on her bed.

"What's up?" Rikku added cheerfully. Yuna looked down a little sad, then met Rikku's eyes and smiled.

"Tidus thinks you are acting a little strange lately… and I agreed, so I wanted to know what was bothering you," Yuna said concerned. Rikku fidgeted uncomfortably and looked away from Yuna.

"Oh umm, nothing is wrong, I'm perfectly ok!" Rikku managed a smile, and then looked away as if she was looking for some distraction.

"Well if you say so," Yuna said thinking. Yuna got up to leave, when she heard a sniffle behind her. She turned around to see a tear fall from Rikku's cheek.

"Rikku!" Yuna ran over to her," are you ok?" Rikku looked up into Yuna's eyes and starting bawling. Yuna hugged her and rubbed her back a little.

"Rikku, you have to tell me what's wrong or else I can't help you." Yuna held Rikku at arms length.

"It can't be helped…" Rikku managed to say between sniffles. Yuna looked at her kind of shocked, and then turned away.

"I'm so sorry Yunie…" Rikku buried her head in her pillow.

"What are you sorry about?" A look a worry crept across her face. Rikku looked up into her cousin's eyes, as if she had just done something totally awful.

"I," Rikku whispered," I love him…" Rikku turned her face away in shame, but Yuna still looked confused.

"Love who?" Yuna asked in the same way she had said 'she who' to Seymour about Yunalesca when he asked her to marry him.

Rikku managed to say a name, "Tidus…" A look of shock, and then horror, swept across Yuna's face. She felt almost betrayed and yet relieved that she knew why Rikku was upset. Yuna started to get up and leave with a dazed look on her face.

"Wait!" Rikku called. Yuna stopped for a moment, and looked back, but not at Rikku, at the floor in front of her.

"I don't know what to say to you," Yuna said, and she turned around and walked out the door. As she left she could hear Rikku beginning to cry kind of loudly, but she didn't go back. All Yuna could think about was how Rikku hadn't told her, and what if Tidus knew? Rikku and Tidus did spend a lot of time together. Was something going on between them? Yuna tried to not think about it, because she saw Tidus outside in the street talking to Wakka.

"Hey Yuna!" Yelled Wakka when he saw her step outside. She managed to smile, and walked toward the two guys, who seemed to be having a serious conversation.

"… and she yelled something out right as I was walking by her door," Tidus was saying to Wakka," Do you think she is ok?"

"Is who ok?" Yuna asked.

"Rikku," Tidus said," I think she has been acting kinda strange lately, don't you?" Tidus seemed very concerned about her, which raised Yuna's suspicions.

"I thought it was just some kind of Al Bhed thing, ya?" Wakka replied, in a very relaxed tone.

"It's not an Al Bhed thing…" Yuna said very suddenly. Tidus and Wakka both had confused looks on their faces. Yuna realizing that she shouldn't tell them anything added,"… It's a girl thing." Yuna tried to sound as casual as possible, and the boys decided that they would rather not know about it.

"Well, umm, let's head to the beach Wakka, the team is waiting for us!" Tidus said, trying to avoid an awkward moment.

"Oh yeah, ok, see ya later Yuna, ya?" They both waved and started off toward the beach.

"What was that about?"

Yuna turned around startled, and saw Paine walking toward her.

"Oh umm, nothing," Yuna lied," Rikku is just having a bad day, that's all." Yuna tried to remain as calm as she could so that Paine wouldn't get suspicious.

"Rikku? Having a bad day?" Paine asked almost shocked. "She is the happiest, most carefree person I know, how could she have a bad day?" Paine seemed more amazed by the fact that Rikku could be sad, then whatever the reason for her sadness was.

"Yeah…" Yuna started to say," I don't know." Yuna could barely contain herself, so she said she had to go and hurried off to Besaid Temple.

"Interesting…"Said Paine, as she watched Yuna hurry down the street," I wonder what's going on." Paine shrugged and decided the only way to know would be to ask Rikku, so she headed to Yuna's house, where Rikku and Tidus were both currently living.

"Hello?" Paine said as she walked into the house," Anybody home?" She thought she heard a small sniffle right before Rikku came running down the hallway.

"Hi Paine, what's up?" Rikku smiled. She definitely didn't want Paine to know what was going on.

"Oh, nothing much," Paine said casually. Paine walked toward the kitchen motioning Rikku to follow.

"You hungry?" Paine asked as she started rummaging through the cupboards. At first when they met it had surprised Rikku that Paine could cook well, but by now it came as no surprise at all.

"No, I'm not hungry," Rikku said. She barely thought about food lately.

"You don't mind if I eat do you?" She looked at Rikku, and Rikku shook her head no, so she resumed searching the kitchen. Rikku sat down at the table and watched as Paine started mixing and pouring some things into a pot. Rikku's mind started to wonder onto Tidus. Thinking about how much she liked watching him play blitzball, and how he had been trying to teach her venom tackle, which she almost got down perfect. She smiled dreamily.

"So, Tidus seems a little worried about you," Paine said as she added something that looked like gysahl greens to the pot.

Rikku snapped out of her dream when she heard his name," huh?"

"Wakka and him were talking about you outside, right before they left to the beach," Paine continued on, acting as normal as ever," Then Yuna showed up and seemed a little tense." Paine cast fire on the pot, and a delicious smell started to fill the air as the food cooked. "She said you were having a bad day, but you look fine to me." Paine didn't seem to be expecting an answer at all; she just wanted Rikku to think about what had happened.

"Did Yuna seem angry?" Rikku asked shyly.

"Angry? No, why?" Paine raised her eyebrow at Rikku, thinking that maybe she would finally tell her what was going on.

"Oh, I just wasn't very nice to her this morning, I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, you know?" Rikku tried to sound as cheerful as possible, but she didn't think Paine fell for it.

Paine stirred the stuff in the pot once more before pouring some it into a bowl.

"I'm going to follow the lead we got on more spheres in the ruins above Mt. Gagazet. Are you coming along?" Paine started eating her soup-like lunch, waiting for a reply. Rikku thought for a moment that Yuna would be going, so she decided she better not.

"I think I'll stay here," Rikku said," need to stay in one place for awhile." Rikku smiled weakly, and then looked out the window toward the beach.

"Have it your way. I'll be leaving tonight on the Celsius if you change your mind." Paine hurried to finish her meal then left the house.

Rikku wondered if Paine really believed her, but it didn't really matter either way. Rikku needed to just pretend nothing happened, and that she didn't have feelings for Tidus. Rikku frowned a little at this idea, but she had to do it for Yunie. Yuna's happiness came before her own. Rikku knew it was the right thing to do, and no one, except Yuna, would ever have to know the truth. She hoped that eventually her feelings would just fade away, or she would start to care about some other guy. Maybe Gippal had changed enough for her to think about giving him a chance.

Yuna walked into the temple, and straight into the chamber of the fayth. She went to the whole that lead to the farplane, and stared into it for a moment, pyreflies flying around her. She very much needed to see her parents now, to think clearly and figure out how she felt, so she jumped into the hole.

She felt the darkness surround her, then felt her feet hit hard against the ground. Light came from every direction now, and she recognized the small flower field she was standing in. She walked slowly over to the edge of the field, and thought about her parents. Pyreflies gathered around her then formed a picture of her parents semi-floating in front of her. Yuna watched them smiling at her, and her heart calmed down a bit.

"I wish I could speak with you both," Yuna said." I desperately need you guidance." Yuna sat down in the flowers and picked one, smelling it. "I need to know what to do. Rikku, my best friend, my cousin, and my ex-guardian… She is in love with my boyfriend, with Tidus. The guy I searched the world for two years for. She loves him? Why does she have to love him, it isn't fair… and why didn't she tell me?" Yuna rambled on, talking and thinking to herself for nearly an hour, before she came to a conclusion. Rikku would get over her feelings if she didn't go around Tidus anymore, and although she trusted Tidus, if she kept them apart, she knew for sure nothing would happen. Yuna headed back to her house, almost happy.

Over the next 3 months, Yuna and Rikku both cheered up a bit, partially because of Yuna's idea to keep them apart, and Rikku's idea to pretend nothing happened. For them, life had almost returned to normal, but Tidus was feeling really annoyed. He really cared about Yuna, but he didn't understand why he couldn't talk to Rikku anymore, let along be in the same room as her for more than 5 minutes. Rikku was his best friend, and he really liked hanging out with her, they had a lot in common. He remembered the first time he tried to teach her the venom tackle, she ended up poisoning herself, and needing to go take an antidote and go to bed. He had been worried about her, but laughed so hard when it first happened.

Also, about a month ago, he went out to take a nighttime swim, and found Rikku gazing at the stars. She was so entranced that she didn't know he was there until he had dumped a bucket of water on her face. She got all angry at him, but then they laughed and looked at the stars together for an hour or so, until they got tired.

Why was Yuna taking his friend away from him? Was she jealous?

Tidus had noticed that Yuna had been almost glaring at Rikku when she came into the room, and was always suddenly dragging him off to a different place. Tidus decided it was about time to confront Yuna about her weird behavior, and figure out why he didn't get to hang out with Rikku anymore

"Hey, Yuna?" Tidus called into the darkness of her bedroom. He knew it was late, but he really wanted to talk to her, he kept thinking about her odd behavior and couldn't sleep.

A light flashed on, and Yuna rolled over on her bed to look at Tidus.

"Did you need something?" Yuna smiled, half expecting that Tidus just wanted to sleep next to her.

"Umm, can we go outside and talk?" Tidus asked.

"Oh," Yuna said," Yeah ok." Yuna got out of bed, and put on a kimono looking robe.

Tidus led Yuna outside, and started walking toward the beach in silence.

"What did you want to talk to me about?" Yuna asked once her foot hit the sand. They kept walking a little farther then Tidus looked up at the stars, remembering that one night with Rikku, and stopped.

"Why are you keeping me from seeing Rikku anymore? She is our friend and I enjoy--" But Yuna cut him off.

"What?" She almost screamed. She started thinking all the bad things that she had tried not to think, and starting shouting off accusations at him.

He had never seen Yuna like this and was kind of scared, but then she started to make him mad.

"How come you get to rule my life, decide who my friends are, and who I can talk to or not!" Tidus shouted at her. She started shouting something back at him, but he had had enough.

"If that's how you feel, then why don't you just leave me!" Tidus blurted out at her. He was pretty serious about it too.

Yuna stomped her foot and said," Fine, I'm leaving you! I'm leaving Besaid too! See if I care about you!" She stormed off back to her house; you could almost see the steam coming out of her ears.

Tidus lay down on the beach, and tried to calm down. He decided he might as well sleep on the beach to, so he stared at the stars, until his eyes couldn't stay open anymore.

It wasn't until another month later that Tidus decided to forget about Yuna and move on. He started playing blitzball again, and smiling and laughing while talking to Rikku. Rikku always seemed to make him feel better, and Rikku seemed happier lately too. Maybe they all just cared about Yuna so much, because they wanted to save her life, but now that she was saved, and everything in Spira was happy and calm, there was no need to protect her and cherish the "summoner".

Tidus wanted to be alive again, and he knew he wouldn't fade away, so he wanted to start and make a life for himself in this world, without being tied to death and the pilgrimage that happened so long ago, but not as long for him.

As for Rikku, she realized when Yuna left, that she needed to be there for her own happiness and that Yuna hurt Tidus, so she wasn't happy about that. Rikku's feelings for Tidus had grown stronger, and she often daydreamed about him. Until that morning, she hadn't realized that she wanted to kiss him. All that morning, she had to fight the urge to run up and peck him on the cheek. She wouldn't dare do it though. She didn't want to ruin their friendship.

"Hey, Rikku!" Tidus shouted from across the road. She had just come out of the store and he the house.

"Oh, hi," Rikku smiled as she hurried over to him," What's up?"

"Well, I promised you I would teach you blitzball moves, remember?" He seemed excited.

"Yeah, I remember…" She started thinking about the reason why they stopped.

"I'm gonna go down to the beach for practice early, wanna come? I can teach you the sphere shot!" Tidus did a back flip and looked at Rikku hopefully.

"Yeah, ok!" Rikku beamed," I'll get up when the sun does!" Rikku did her little victory dance, and Tidus laughed.

"Ok see ya bright and early then!" Tidus went running out of town carrying his sword, probably going to fight some monsters Rikku thought.

Rikku spent the rest of the day cleaning and daydreaming around the house. Since Yuna and Paine weren't home, the house had become a bit of a pigsty, so Rikku wanted to make it look good for Tidus when he got home. After several hours, Rikku was exhausted and decided to go to bed.

Morning came, and Tidus was ready to go and get blitzing. He woke up a little late, so he went straight to the beach, thinking Rikku might already be there, but she wasn't. He decided he would start practicing without her. Two hours later, there was no sign of Rikku, so he went back to the house.

Tidus went up to Rikku's room and heard a cute little snore. Rikku's door was open, so he stepped in and saw Rikku all curled up, still sleeping. He smiled, and watched her for awhile, listening to her snore. He started thinking about how cute she looked, a little drool coming out of her mouth, when she suddenly woke up.

"Huh, ahh! Tidus!" Rikku scrambled to get out of bed, but just fell on the floor, blankets covering her. Tidus laughed and helped her up. She was wearing a spaghetti strap top that was light blue, and matching shorts that had little cactuars all over them.

"I'm sorry I slept in!" Rikku spurted out, as one of her straps fell off her shoulder. Tidus put his hand on her arm, then moved the strap back to her shoulder and smiled. Rikku blushed and turned away.

"I'll get my swimsuit on right away and meet you at the beach," Rikku said, trying to be calm.

"Ok," said Tidus," but I have already been down there for two hours and I need a break. I'll just watch you and tell you what to do." Tidus waved and walked out toward the beach. Rikku closed her door and put on her little, yellow, bikini. She ran, excitedly, toward the beach.

When she got there, Tidus was waiting for her, standing knee-deep in the water. He waved, and she ran over to him. He tossed her the blitzball as she hit the water, and laughed when she almost fell in.

"Ready to learn the sphere shot?" Tidus asked, slightly amused. Rikku nodded and headed out deeper into the water. She got out to where she could barely touch the bottom anymore and Tidus motioned that that was good. He told her that she needed to learn to do a back flip out of the water first. She tried and tried, but kept falling on her head into the water. She swam back to Tidus, discouraged.

"Maybe we should go back to the sand, this seems too hard for you," Tidus said.

"I will do it!" Rikku exclaimed, as if Tidus had challenged her. She went back out and tried for about an hour more. When Tidus decided that this wasn't working very well, he got an idea.

"You might do it better if you actually had a ball to hit, instead of imagining it."

"Ok," Rikku said. She got ready, and on the count of three Tidus shot the ball at her. She jumped into the air, finally doing the flip right, but before she could finish, the ball slammed into her stomach, and she fell into the ocean.

"Rikku!" Tidu yelled. He ran out to her floating body and started to panic. She came up, gasping for air, and saw Tidus starting to laugh. She glared at him, and pushed him down into the water. She shoved him all the way to the bottom, and they looked into each other's eyes. They stared at each other for several minutes, before Rikku burst out laughing.

Tidus, not knowing what Rikku was doing, swam up to the surface. He looked down at Rikku, who was slowly coming up. Tidus realized that Rikku must have sucked in a bunch of water, and hurried and pulled her up.

"Rikku!" He shouted," Rikku!" But she didn't answer. He picked her up and ran to the shore. He laid her down on the sand, and checked to see if she was breathing. She wasn't. He bent down over her, plugged her nose, and blew into her mouth. He pressed on her chest, but nothing happened. He did it over and over again, but no breath. He grabbed her tight and started crying.

"You can't leave me Rikku; you said you would never leave me! Please don't leave me Rikku; you are all I have left, please…" He hugged her even tighter. A tear rolled down his cheek and landed on her face, and she started coughing.

"Rikku!" Tidu exclaimed. She coughed up some water then opened her eyes a little. Tidus hugged her again, tighter then ever, and cried tears of joy. Rikku thought she was dreaming again, cause this was the same way he hugged her in her dreams. She looked up at him, smiled weakly, and whispered something in his ear.

"What?" Tidus asked, very confused, but Rikku had passed out. He carried her up to her room, wrapped her up in blankets, and sat down in a chair in her room. He wanted to make sure she was ok, and to be there if she needed anything.

Rikku woke up suddenly, with a bad headache. She didn't know why she was in her room, and why it was dark. She scanned her room, and saw something. It was Tidus. Suddenly she remembered the blitzball and the beach.

_Did I really say that to him? Did that really happen? I thought I was dreaming…_

Tidus stirred, but he didn't wake up. Rikku was slightly relieved, but then a different feeling hit her. She was hungry.

Rikku got out of bed and put on some warmer clothes, because she was still in her swimsuit. She walked slowly down the stairs and toward the kitchen. She went to find the cupboard, but missed and knocked down a bunch of pots and pans, making a lot of noise. Rikku flinched, and stood silently, to see if she had woke up Tidus, but she didn't hear anything else. She managed to find some sort of sweetbread to snack on, and decided to go for a walk to clear her head.

She walked out of the house and out into the night. She didn't really know where she was gonna walk, she just needed to.

Rikku was lost in though, walking along, when she realized she was walking in sand. She had walked to the beach without realizing it. She slowly walked across the beach and toward the water. The stars were so bright and beautiful, that she could see really well. She walked ankle-deep into the water, and starred off into the open-air.

"Rikku?" It was Tidus's voice. Rikku didn't dare turn to look at him.

He walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. Until just this moment, under the stars, he hadn't realized how beautiful Rikku was.

"Was it true?" He asked suddenly. His hand left her shoulder.

"Was what true?" Rikku asked. She didn't really know what he was talking about.

"What you said yesterday… before you passed out… was it true? Tidus seemed almost embarrassed about asking.

"Umm…," Rikku thought she had been dreaming yesterday," what did I say?" She didn't want to be right about what happened.

"You said," Tidus started," you said you loved me." Tidus walked a little ways out of the water, as if he was trying to hide something.

Rikku didn't know what to say to him, she was in shock that it all had even happened, so she just walked a little farther into the water. Tidus walked back over to her, put his hands on her shoulders, and turned her around.

They looked into each other's eyes, getting lost. Rikku didn't know what to do; she felt like she could just fly away, she was in such a dreamy state.

"I wanted to know, because…" Tidus finally broke the silence," I love you." He leaned in a kissed her very softly, and a tear came out of Rikku's eye. She was so happy. When he slowly moved away, he smiled and Rikku smiled too.

"It is true, "Rikku finally said,"I do love you." She hugged him tightly. "I've loved you for so long…" "I've loved you a long time too, I just didn't realize it until recently," Tidus admitted. They stared at each other for what seemed like forever, until they decided they should go back home to sleep.

Tidus tucked Rikku in and said, "I love you, good night." Rikku fell asleep knowing how lucky she was to finally be loved by the one that she loved.


End file.
